User guide

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visualise | communicate | ENGAGE The InstantAtlas Desktop Publisher

g the InstantAtlas Area Profile Template User Guide

Once you have created your data model and wish to return to the Publisher

Wizard, please click ‘OK’. Your data model will be checked to ensure it is

valid before returning to the Publisher wizard screen.

Now click the ‘Next’ button or alternatively, click the ‘Back’ button to return

to the ‘Choose Your Base Geography’ screen.

B.3.4. Choose Your Contextual Geographies

This step of the publishing process involves choosing contextual

geographies if these are required. Contextual geographies are displayed

in dynamic reports to provide context to the map(s). They are not used for

thematic mapping as this role is reserved for the base geography. You

may choose multiple contextual geographies for your dynamic report if you

wish.

There are two types of contextual layers. You can either upload a digital

map file into the Publisher or you can use a GeoRSS connection to feed

the geographic features on-the-fly into your report (requires internet

connection).

B.3.4.1. Digital Map Files as Contextual Layers

As with the base geography, digital map files should be uploaded in either

ESRI shapefile (.shp), MapInfo interchange file (.mif) or MapInfo table

structure (.tab) format.

For example, you might wish to show district boundaries as an overlay to a

base geography consisting of post code sectors. In Figure 28, the district

boundaries have been set to be red and thicker than the sector boundaries

(light grey).

Figure 28

You can upload digital map files of polygon, line or point geometry type. In

Figure 28, a polygon type digital map file was uploaded as the contextual

geography. Figure 29 shows an example of a point digital map file

uploaded as a contextual geography.

Figure 29